The Sausage that Brings Isolation: Part 2

As I walked back to our hotel room, the policeman’s explanation for the current security measures of 10 Downing Street ringing in my ears, I felt as though Fiction had let me down.  I knew that was wrong, as Fiction that portrays a current status must be revised for the time, but still!  This was just another result of how unsuccessful I am.  Had I achieved more in my professional career, had I earned more money, had I succeeded in my life-long ambition to become a published novelist…well, okay.  Perhaps I still would have been barred from getting closer to the door of 10 Downing Street.  But at least I would have felt less concerned about the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound.  Thus, we wouldn’t be walking back to a tiny hotel room (nearly the cheapest we could find), but felt more free to take public transportation to plusher digs.  We wouldn’t have had to worry about where we could afford to eat dinner.  We might have felt more inclined to pay the admission charges of either Westminster Abbey or buy a ticket for the London Eye.  If only I had become Someone Important! I railed silently.

After awhile though, I turned my thoughts in a more profitable direction.  Just as rooms will be redecorated and building facades updated, I should have foreseen that the security procedures for 10 Downing Street would evolve with time.  But what truths did “Yes, Prime Minister” teach me that were of more lasting quality?  Certainly the relationship between the Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister would remain the same.  As the head of the Civil Service, the primary goal of Sir Gus O’Donnell (the person holding Sir Humphrey’s job) would still be to maintain the stability of government.  Conversely, I imagine that the major concern of David Cameron (the current Prime Minister) would be to keep voters happy with his and his party’s actions, even if he had to completely overturn existing government policy and structure to do so.  But was there a greater truth that “Yes, Prime Minister,” could have taught me before now, if only I had been willing to listen?

In “The Grand Design,” the first episode of this sequel series, Jim Hacker walks into his living room in Number 10 at lunchtime, only to find that his wife is leaving to do her charity work.  With whom is he to dine?  He cannot eat in the Cabinet Mess: that is reserved for Civil Servants.  Nor can he eat with those in his party without an official reason, as this would both suggest and invite favoritism.  Lunching with journalists or representatives of other governments would pose similar dangers.  But having to dine alone is not the only limitation imposed on him.

Before his wife Annie leaves for her meeting, she complains about having to live in this “goldfish bowl.”  Every time she steps outside, she must face gawking tourists and journalists eager to question her.  She has been forced to keep the windows closed all morning, or music from the rehearsing Horse Guard (in their adjacent parade grounds) would have deafened her.  While she is complaining to him of how she feels like a prisoner in this house she is “forced to live in,” guards enter the room to perform a security check, and a functionary brings in government correspondence for him to read.  

What must it be like, to have to live under such stringent constraints?  While we all wish for additional money and power, do we think about the liberties and the anonymity that we would consequently lose?  When I achieve my goal of becoming a successful novelist, will I still be able to enjoy a quiet and peaceful evening walk through St. James Park?  I’m sure that Jim Hacker (or David Cameron, for that matter) would not regret his decision to be Prime Minister any more than I see more money and importance (even at the cost of my anonymity) as a justification to stop pursuing my personal goal, but still….

Suddenly, I find myself less bothered by the high prices that stop me from such activities as touring Westminster Abbey or riding the London Eye.  My hotel room doesn’t seem so small.  I am just another person visiting this famous, if expensive city.  Hence, at least for this trip, I do not have to eat “The Sausage that brings Isolation.”

Not another gawking tourist!

“The Grand Design” is included in “Yes, Prime Minister.”  The series is available on DVD from the BBC.

The Sausage that Brings Isolation: Part 1

From movies and TV, we all know where the Prime Minister of Britain lives: in 10 Downing Street.  When a crisis arises (such as in the episode “Aliens of London” in “Doctor Who”), political and military leaders converge on this seemingly nondescript building in Whitehall.   When a new political party takes control of the House of Commons (as in the film “Love Actually”), a limousine rolls up outside the building, and out walks the new Prime Minister (in this case, played by Hugh Grant).   Or, as portrayed in the first “Yes, Minister” episode, when James Hacker gets a call from the Prime Minister, we next see him outside Number 10, and learn that he has just become Minister of the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs (DAA).  

I had chosen to tour Whitehall this evening, not only because the DAA would have been located there, but also because I wanted to see this famous building (and residence).  I didn’t expect to see the Prime Minster standing outside, or to be ushered into the Cabinet Room to speak with him (an honor accorded the staff of Grace Brothers department store in an episode of “Are You Being Served”), but I had hoped to see the 10 Downing Street that I was familiar with from the episode “The Key” in Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn’s sequel series “Yes, Prime Minister.

In “Party Games,” the last episode of “Yes, Minister,” Sir Humphrey Appleby is promoted to the role of Cabinet Secretary, the highest Civil Service position in Britain.  Then the Prime Minister announces he will retire before the next election, and DAA Minister James Hacker ends up succeeding him through party machinations and the furor he arouses over the so-called “English Sausage.”  In “The Key,” Sir Humphrey is trying too hard to control Hacker, so the new Prime Minister changes the lock to the hallway that has, until now, allowed Sir Humphrey to burst in on any meeting he is conducting.  With his way through the intervening corridor blocked, Sir Humphrey walks outside, past a typical English policeman or “bobby,” and the people standing outside waist-high metal fencing.  He is only prevented from visiting entering Number 10 by another “bobby” who tells him his name is not on the daily list, so he cannot be admitted.  Had I done my homework, I would have read of the IRA bombing in 1991, several years after “The Key” was filmed.  Thus, I would not have been flabbergasted to see this.

Not your typical English "bobbies"

Clearly, my beloved Fiction had let me down.

This story will conclude in my next post: The Sausage that Brings Isolation: Part 2

“Aliens of London” is included in Doctor Who Series 1, which features the exploits of the Ninth Doctor (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston).  “Party Games” and “The Key” are included in “Yes, Prime Minister.”  Both series, as with "Are You Being Served?" and the movie "Love Actually" are available on DVD (and well worth watching).